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The original was posted on /r/amitheasshole by /u/Atwillim on 2023-07-27 12:17:48+00:00.
A little about me - I'm a 2nd grade business administration and management student at a university. I am relatively shy and mostly keep to myself. However we do a lot of group projects and presentations - which was quite a stress factor for me before starting my studies, because I always find these situations, when you have to split yourself into groups really awkward, I'm afraid of rejection and don't really know how to approach people. Thing is I got really lucky, because the first group project in economics class had randomized groups and it was me and 3 other guys. We fit really well together and kept the same group for the following and next year. We occasionally had a 5th and 6th person when class demanded it, but always had kept our core. It was a big relief for me, because I no longer had to worry about getting left out or joining someone I'm not compatible with.
One of the guys from our "core" is Jake (M,22) and we becoming quite good friends and would often hang out between lectures or go eat together when there was a 2 hour window due to imperfect scheduling. However lately he was ignoring me after an incident in a class.
Me and my Jake were sitting in the class and as the lecturer described some geometry concept, he leaned over to me and said something funny, a play of words related to the current topic and I thought it was funny so I repeated it, not it in a "Hey everyone check this out" way, but like guys do, to pump each other up. You know one person says something and another repeats it and you both get a giggle.
However what happened was that people around us heard it and they immediately burst into laughter. Even lecturer overheard it and I could see her smiling. It was completely unintentional. It felt really good to me, because now people were smiling and looking at me. I just went with it and laughed and looked at Jake, wanting to compliment him and he had a weird look on his face. He was looking at me like "WTF BRO" and I just shrugged. Like what could I possibly do in this situation?
After the class ended it feels like our relationship changed. I am not usually the most outgoing guy, but it seemed like that joke made people look at me a different way and I receive more smiles and nods as I walk in the hallways or sit down in class. I honestly feel more confident and outgoing. Jake meanwhile barely speaks to me. I tried to talk to him, but he told me that it was his joke and I should have given him credit, but how was I supposed to do it? I told him that's it's not a big deal and he said I am TA.